The Hornets are attempting to hold the first portion of their training camp in New Orleans before returning to Oklahoma City to begin their preseason schedule.
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Hornets general manager Jeff Bower said the team likely would be based in New Orleans when training camp opens Oct. 3 and return to Oklahoma City about two days before the team’s Oct. 10 preseason opener against the Dallas Mavericks at the Ford Center. Bower said team officials are reviewing the move as a possibility but a final decision has not been made.
Although Bower and Hornets coach Byron Scott both cited team chemistry as the primary reason for considering the move, it appears to be the latest occurrence geared toward reconnecting the fans in New Orleans to the team.
The Hornets temporarily relocated here when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf South last fall. For the second straight season, the team will play 35 home games at the Ford Center and this year play six games in New Orleans before their expected full-time return to New Orleans for the 2007-08 season.
The decision to shift the first week of training camp to New Orleans comes on the heel of Hornets owner George Shinn petitioning the NBA to schedule the team’s home opener in New Orleans on Nov. 5, and just days after commissioner David Stern’s most definite statement regarding the team’s return to New Orleans next season.
“I’m looking at it honestly from the benefit of our team,” Bower said. “The biggest thing I think is going away for training camp.
“We saw a great advantage last year when we came here and had the team together in a hotel for five or six days - the bonding that took place and the ability for the players to be totally together in a an atmosphere that is totally conducive to nothing but basketball”
A final decision is expected to come within the next week or two, Bower said, but such a move appears to make sense for the team from both a business basketball standpoint.
The Hornets could use the brief appearance in New Orleans to maintain and even boost fan interest in Louisiana. Before their expected full-time return to New Orleans, the team will have played only nine games in two years in the city. The Hornets will also have at least seven new players on the roster next season, leading to unfamiliarity with one another on the court.
“I’ve always went away for training camp,” Scott said. “That’s been my thing when I was a player and it’s still my thing as a coach. Just to get the guys away somewhere where we’re secluded together is something that I’ve been thinking about.
“My biggest concern is just making sure the team is connected, that we’re spending almost (every hour) together. We just want to get them secluded where there’s no outside interference. And going home after practice sometimes can be that. I want their minds to be on basketball until we break camp”
Bower and Scott said that two other sites had been considered, both declining to provide locations.
The Hornets open the regular season on the road against the Boston Celtics on Nov. 1. They play in Oklahoma City for the first time Nov. 7 against the Golden State Warriors.
